Recipes to celebrate the New Year from around the world
America - Black-eyed pea appetizer - B & A
China - Lionshead meatballs - Z & K
Greece, Turkey and parts of Italy - Pomegranate Salad - J & K
Rosh Hashana - Scallion Challah - L & T
Japan - Mochi Muffins (Strawberry or a Variation) - T & J
Ingredients
Preheat oven to 375°F. Process cream cheese, 1 cup black-eyed peas, 1⁄2 tablespoon lime juice, hot sauce, and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt in a food processor until creamy and smooth (about 1 minute). Place mixture in a large bowl.
Stir remaining black-eyed peas, diced ham, scallions, bell pepper, and 4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese (1 cup) into cream cheese mixture. Spread mixture into a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 4 ounces cheese.
Bake, covered with aluminum foil, in preheated oven 20 minutes. Remove foil, and bake for 10 to 15 more minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes.
Stir together tomatoes, cilantro, olive oil, jalapeño, remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice, and remaining 1⁄4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Top black-eyed pea dip with tomato mixture using a slotted spoon. Serve with tortilla chips.
You will find a recipe for Strawberry Mochi muffins below, but if you want to get creative - you can try a variation!
Fruit swap—Feel free to swap out the strawberries with any other berries like blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries. If you use blue or blackberries, add a drop of purple food coloring.
Add-ins—For added texture and flavor, fold add-ins into the mochi muffin batter, such as white chocolate chips, cranberries, or nuts of choice.
Fancy toppings: Just before serving, drizzle the mochi muffins with honey, condensed milk, or syrup.
For the Mochi Muffins:
Optional toppings:
Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 F with a rack in the center.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin liners. Spray the liners with cooking spray or grease lightly with oil. Alternatively, omit the liners and generously grease each cup of the muffin pan. (Mochi muffins and mochi cakes tend to be quite sticky as glutinous rice flour comes from “sticky rice.”)
Add the oil, milk, eggs, condensed milk or syrup, food coloring, strawberries, miso, baking powder, sugar, and rice flour to a blender and blend until smooth and cohesive. Optionally, rest the batter for a few minutes.
Divide the batter evenly into the muffin pan. You should have enough for 12 muffins. Each muffin cup should be about 3/4 full.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until an inserted toothpick or bamboo skewer comes out clean. To keep the muffin tops pink, cover the muffins with aluminum foil about 15 minutes into baking. Place the muffin tin on a wire rack to cool. As the muffins cool, they become denser and more extensible/elastic.
Top the muffins with your optional toppings of choice.
Mochi muffins can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerated for up a week. Reheat as needed in the toaster, oven, or microwave.
Notes:
Pickle the radishes: Combine the red radishes, shallot, vinegar, and salt in a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature for 2 hours to pickle, or transfer to an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Be sure the radish and shallots are fully submerged in the pickling liquid so they can all turn pink—the liquid increases as it sits so you can periodically press the mixture into the liquid.
Make the dressing: Place the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, and salt in a medium jar, tightly screw on a lid, and shake well to combine. When you are ready to assemble the salad, stir in the pomegranate seeds and reshake the dressing.
Toast the walnuts: Heat the oven to 300°F.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, add the walnuts, and spread out evenly. Toast for 6 to 8 minutes, or until fragrant, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Coarsely crush the nuts directly on the sheet pan using the back of a wooden spoon and set aside.
Assemble the Salad:
Remove the radicchio leaves from the head all the way to the center, then discard the core (cut it in quarters if needed to remove the tighter inner leaves). Tear the leaves into bite-size pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the endive leaves and crushed nuts. Drain the pickled radishes and shallots (discard the pickling liquid or save it to season sauces or stews) and sprinkle over the salad. Add the shaved watermelon radishes, then shave the apple (or slice as thin as possible) and add to the salad. Drizzle with the dressing and gently toss.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.
Double for 10 people (1 meatball per person)
Wash and drain the bok choy or other greens. Cut crosswise into 3-inch strips. Mince the ginger and green onion
In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork.
In a medium bowl, combine the ground pork with the green onion, ginger, salt, sugar, dry sherry, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper if using, and the egg, using your fingers to mix together the ingredients thoroughly.
Add as much cornstarch as needed to make so that the mixture is not too wet, start with 3 tablespoons and then add 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Form the ground pork into 5 large meatballs. Flatten them a bit so that they are not completely round.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet or wok over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the meatballs. Cook for 5 minutes until browned on the bottom. Turn and cook the other side (adjust the heat if the meatballs are cooking too quickly).
In a flameproof casserole dish or saucepan that is large enough to hold the meatballs, heat the chicken broth and 2 tablespoons soy sauce to boiling. Add the meatballs, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Add the bok choy to the pot, either arranging on top of the meatballs so that it steams, or placing directly in broth if there is room.
Simmer for another 15 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through and there is no pinkness in the middle.
To serve Lion's head meatballs, serve each meatball on a small plate surrounded by the greens, or in soup bowls with some of the bok choy and broth. You can also thicken some of the broth with a cornstarch and water thickener and pour over the meatballs.
Tips
When you remove the ground pork packaging, pat the meat lightly with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
To keep the pork mixture from sticking to your hands when shaping the meatballs, wet your hands with water.
